The league doesn't want Victor to be MVP. The league wants to put big names on these lists in the race for this or that award.
The league was built on the same principle as the star system invented by the major movie studios in the 1920s. Originally, films were built around a subject, and the names of the actors didn't even appear on the poster. Thanks to the advent of certain artists such as Chaplin, they began to develop a commercial and industrial logic around actors and actresses. Sometimes by bringing them together on screen. Paramount's predecessor, Famous Players, developed this logic, which became the norm in Hollywood. It is still the logic today, a logic that exists nowhere else.
In basketball, it's the same. The league was built around personalities rather than brands (the opposite of Europe, for example). The league doesn't care who wins the titles. Instead, it needs to create a whole narrative around the stars. Everything is copied from the movie star system: publicity around personalities, scandal management, exclusivity contracts, obligations to the league and the press. Even the awards are modeled on the Oscars, which were supposed to complete this star system logic in the late 1920s. The important thing for the league is not that Victor or someone else wins a title, but that everyone talks about the possibility. All the stars are interchangeable.
A star is a star: It's important to bring out personalities in teams and in the league. If we compare this with what is done in Europe, for example, there is much more emphasis on team dynamics. That's why in Europe, coaches look for different solutions for each game and during each game to destabilize the opposing defense, with the direct result that offensive leaders rarely remain the same player from one game to the next. In France, to describe the fact that star players are put forward in the NBA, we talk about “ticket shots.” This means that franchise players have the green light to shoot. The very concept of franchise players does not exist in Europe. It is very specific to the NBA.
The entire NBA business, especially the press, is based on this star system logic. Even the Spurs are subject to it, and not just with Victor. The Big Three is nothing more than a reproduction of the star alliance logic imagined by the studios after the crisis of 1929. Even if its construction is not premeditated, it results from a narrative logic built around stars.
For every NBA player, there is a story to be created. They don't care who is at the top of the bill, the important thing is to look up at the billboard with wide eyes. And if necessary, discuss who you find there. Each title on the poster could be “Who is the best?” If it’s not Victor, it’s one of his own.
